India Tourism is showcasing three broad themes at the World Travel Market (WTM) London, a premier travel trade show for global tourism, which got underway at ExCeL London. The spotlight of Incredible India pavilion is broadly on MICE, Mahakumbh and Wedding Tourism.
A key source market for Indian tourism with a strong diaspora population of 1.9 million, inbound from the UK is yet to recover and rebound to the pre-Covid numbers. Therefore India tourism is putting the best foot forward at WTM this time with over 50 partners comprising state tourism boards, tour operators, hotels and airline companies participating in the 3-day trade show.
The India pavilion was jointly inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India, Vikram Doraiswami and Mugdha Sinha, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in the presence of Parvati Parida, Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha and Tourism Ministers of Telangana, Goa and Uttarakhand.
Sharing the exclusive details, the Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra informed that around 40 different stakeholders meetings were conducted on the first day of WTM London at Maharashtra tourism’s pavilion. On the following day, around 200 people visited the pavilion and several B2B meetings were conducted. Telangana Tourism Minister along with the Secretary of Tamil Nadu also visited the Maharashtra Tourism pavilion.
A mock ‘Mandapam’ at the Incredible India pavilion was the key highlight as part of promoting India as a wedding destination.The co-participants at India pavilion include States of Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, tour operators / Destination Management Companies, airline, resorts and IRCTC.
State Tourism Departments from Goa, Odisha, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are also participating to showcase their unique tourism experiences and connect with potential clients and partners.
A total number of 9.5 million foreign tourists visited India during 2023 out of which 0.92 million visits were from the UK, making it the third largest source market for inbound tourists to India.
